Do You Remember Me?, Onyx [i can read book club txt] 📗

Valentines Day you’d bring me chocolates, flowers and some kind of stuffed animal. The Christmas of 12th grade, you proposed to me. We were going to get married the next October and April 22nd was our anniversary of getting together. We always spent it eating out then spending the night at the beach. After graduation, we went to the Contagious concert, where you bought me that jacket.”
“Rex. You know… when you were kidnapped… I found him ripped… I went insane there until I found Amber’s note but until then all I could do was cry. I stitched him back up for you… he’s still there, you know. Everything is still there.” I fought back tears.
She was quiet for a moment. Then she said, “When they let you out of this place, let’s go… see how it is now.”
I shook my head, “I promised I would tell you the truth when you remembered my name. I’ll tell you everything. But I want to take you somewhere first. Then we can go home.”
She smiled, “Fine.”
“He’s awake?” A blonde nurse said, peering her head through the doorway.
“Yes, ma’am.” Danielle said, “When can he go home?”
“Well, the bullet didn’t hit anything major. No bone damage. He should still be able to walk. I’d say he can go home tomorrow. He’ll need A LOT of rest, though.”
Danielle nodded and the nurse left us alone again.
Everything was silent for a moment.
“I have a question for you, Danielle.”
“And what is it?”
“When I first saw you at the park… you were crying. Why?”
She sighed, “I always felt so… alone… so misunderstood. So used. Since I remembered nothing, I felt like there was a huge part of me missing. A part of my heart. It’s torment, not to remember anything. Even if the past was bad, it’s better to remember than not to. If you don’t remember anything, how do you know who to trust? How do you know who you are or what to do? You don’t. You have no idea what’s happened to you. Anything could have. But the worst part is not knowing.
“When I first saw you, you felt familiar. I knew that I knew you from somewhere but I didn’t know from where. I didn’t know you, yet I knew I did. It’s hard to explain… and I was afraid. Should I trust you or not? How do I know you?”
I rested my forehead against hers, “You know me from me loving you. It was hell knowing you didn’t remember me. Thinking that all I’d done for you had gone to waste. But you should never give up on someone you love, right? I’m glad you came to the park the next day, or I would’ve taken myself out of this world… I’m glad you gave me the second chance I needed and I’m thankful for all this time we’ve spent together. I want to give you something. But, it’s in my jean pocket. At the park. When we go back, I’ll give it to you.”
Danielle nodded and curled up beside me on the bed, her head against my chest. Within minutes, she was sound asleep.

Danielle

“No, what are you doing, Jaclyn?”
“Just come with me, Danielle. This is for your own good.”
“Where are we going?” I still couldn’t stop crying. I’d been crying for a week straight. I’d done absolutely nothing but cry, eat a little, cry more, and fall asleep. I was surprised my eyes hadn’t dried up and fallen out by then.
Jaclyn grabbed me by the arm, her grip firm and tight, dragging me to the bathroom. She pulled me over to the tub.
“I’m sorry I have to do this, Danielle. He ruined you. I can’t stand to see you like this. I’ll make you forget him, I promise. It’ll be okay. You’ll be happy again.”
“What? Jaclyn, no!”
My face met the side of the tub. Again. Again. Again. My vision was tinted red, my head throbbing. The room was blurry and spinning.
Another slam. Another. Another. It felt like someone had taken a hammer to my face a thousand times. By the time she finished, I couldn’t feel anything. My vision was quickly fading to purple, then black. I couldn’t think. I was confused and distraught.
I slid to the floor as Jaclyn left the room, sniffling. I choked up a bit of blood, before giving into the comforting hands of death.

Chapter 12

Chapter 12
Chris

I handed her the folded, crinkled paper. She took it slowly, between her middle and index fingers. She looked down at the name, then back up at me.
I nodded and she carefully unfolded it, making sure not to rip or tear it. She read it to herself in a whisper. I had it memorized.
Dear Danielle,
I hope you can forgive me, but you probably won’t. I know I’ve done terrible things
and that I’ve caused this. But you have no idea how much I regret what has happened. I need you to know that I love you, and I promise I will return. I will make up for this. I don’t know when I will be back, but I will. I swear on my life. If you don’t forgive me, I don’t blame you. Because I know I never will either.
Love, Chris.

“I wrote this when I brought you back to Jaclyn’s.” Danielle nodded. Her eyes were watery again.
She said nothing. She just folded the paper up and stuck it in her jeans. Eventually she grabbed me and pulled me into a kiss. A kiss more deep, more eager more passionate than ever before. Even before all the craziness.
I held her tight and close, things getting intense. Just like every other time, we both lost our breath. I couldn’t pull away. I wanted her. I needed her. My body burned for her.
She was mine. I pulled away just for a moment, to look around. Nobody was here. Thank God. I took Danielle by the hand and lead her to the back of the pavilion, where the two bathrooms were. I pulled her into the girls’ bathroom and we continued our make-out session there.
Now I know a girls’ bathroom in a pavilion at a damn park is nothing fancy nor romantic nor sanitary but it’s all you got when you’re homeless. And that is where I claimed her mine. Again. If you know what I mean, I don’t need to go into detail.

After so long, she was rightfully mine once more. There was no greater feeling than that. But I still had a promise to keep. Having to go back and tell that story, to have to re-live those memories and feelings again… is not something to look forward to.
At least after the ordeal was done, I wouldn’t be alone and things could go back to normal. How they were supposed to be.

How I would take Erick’s life was simple. There was no way I could fight him, he was way stronger than me. He was only 3 inches taller than me, but he seemed to tower over me.
I was glad to rid of him. Not as much as I was to rid Amber, but still glad. I always hated his blonde hair. A guy shouldn’t have blonde hair. It wasn’t right.
We were sitting on the couch, drinking bud light and watching football, like a couple of old friends. There were two problems with it; 1. I loathed Erick. 2. I hated sports. Especially football.
“Where’s my sister? Haven’t seen her since yesterday at dinner.”
“We stayed up late… you know… having a little fun. She’s still asleep.”
“You dog.” He laughed, “I didn’t need to know that but OK.”
After a few minutes, he said, “Dude, get me another beer.”
I nodded and headed into the kitchen, everything going just as planned. I snatched a beer can from the fridge and rummaged through the cabinet until I found the small jar I’d hidden in there just a few days ago.
I popped open the beer can and sprinkled just a bit of the white powder into it. I re-hid the jar and returned to Erick, handing him his death sentence.
He took a sip. Then he looked at me, “Why was it open?”
“I stole a drink.” I grinned.
“No wonder why it tastes funny. It has your germs in it.”
I gave him a fake little laugh. I really hated him. But soon he would be right where Amber was. And he suspected nothing.

And, as hoped, by nightfall, he was gagging and puking every 10 minutes it seemed. His skin was pale and he had a fever of 112 degrees.
He asked me to get him soup and a glass of water before he went to bed, and I did. And yes, I put more poison in both.
Morning came. I went straight to his room. Checked for a pulse. Nothing. I punched the air and jumped a couple times, grinning like an idiot. I drug his body to the bathroom quickly, repeating what I’d done to Amber. Watching his blood fill the bathtub made me feel so ecstatic. I had to put his remains in a separate pillow case, Amber’s was full.
Once I was finished cleaning up, I took Amber’s pillowcase out of the closet and looked at both. I laughed a little, “Well I’m sorry it has come to this, Amber and Erick, but I assure you this is for good reason. You took me away from my love, and that couldn’t go unpunished. Don’t worry, you’ll be fine.”
I headed into the dark woods, pillowcases in hand. Eventually, I felt I was being watched and turned to catch two golden eyes glaring at me hungrily.

If I remembered correctly, the house had been on a hill. Luckily there was one dirt path from the main road leading to where the hill was a smooth walk up. And no, 10 miles is not that a long way to walk in the woods but neither of us had eaten in 2 days so Danielle and I filled her backpack with granola bars, gummy fruits, crackers and many, many water bottles before starting off.
“I remember you and everything about you now. But what about Jaclyn? When did I meet her?”
“You met her in middle school, you told me. By the end of middle, you guys were best friends. And all through high school it remained so. I never really liked her. Too controlling. Too bossy.”
“I know what you mean.” She sighed, “She made me feel like a stupid child the way she bossed me around and scolded me. What right does she have?”
“None.”
“The only thing I really remember of her, well before I lost my memory, is her bashing my head against the tub. I’d had a dream of it a couple nights ago. Now I can remember the